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2007 Jeep Wrangler
I'm in Zambia, Africa, in South Luangwa National Park. I'm bringing up the rear of a caravan of eight Jeep Wranglers that are being directed, one by one, down a steep river embankment and over the boulders of the riverbed below. The seven Jeeps in front are moving very slowly, if they're moving at all. I can hear the shouts of the spotters, who are leaping among the rocks and mud and pools of fetid water, helping our small group of American journalists guide the all-new, 2007 Wranglers over, around, and between obstacles that would defy anything this side of a Land Rover Defender. This is wicked terrain, and I'm not encouraged by the excited voices echoing off the riverbank. Good grief.
I came here to gaze at giraffes and baobab trees through the Wrangler's open roof, not to prove to the guys from the four-wheeling magazines that I'm anywhere near as proficient at this boulder-dodging business as they are. But the shouts and the sickening scraping sounds rising from the river suggest that differential cases are kissing boulders, mufflers are being crushed like tinfoil, and fender flares are finding new homes on the river bottom. It's going to be a long time before we get to our lunch spot next to the hippo lagoon.
As the hot African sun beams through the Wrangler's open top, I idly wonder if I'll be the one to hurtle a Jeep end-over-end into this river, plunging into my own personal heart of darkness. Forgive the angst. Just yesterday, one hapless member of our contingent jacked a Wrangler sideways while climbing a boulder, and the vehicle flipped side-over-side and tumbled down an embankment, landing on the passenger's door. Both occupants--Chrysler employees--were unhurt, but the incident underscored the fact that Jeep had flown us 9000 miles to test these Wranglers to their limits.
There's no more time to worry about such things, because Duncan Barbour, the amiable Scotsman serving as our chief trail guide, is beckoning me to come on down. I hit the switches to lock the front and rear differentials and disconnect the front antiroll bar, and then I ease the black four-door Wrangler over the embankment's edge until Barbour tells me to hold up. I set the brake, lift myself from the seat, and peer over the edge of the Wrangler's folding windshield. Barbour is standing way, way down there, directly in the Wrangler's path, which is not where I would be if I were him. He waits for the vehicle in front of me to claw itself out of the way, and then he gives me the go. Palming the shifter into first and inching down the rocky riverbank, I realize I'm not headed toward potential doom, because in the process of already having guided seven other vehicles down this particular assemblage of rocks, Barbour has gleaned the perfect path down the thirty-degree slope. Before long, the Wrangler and I are sloshing through the river bottom, and I'm following vehicle development engineer Mark Luscomb's advice to "let the throttle pull you along on its own. Keep your foot out of it." Hey, this is easy, I think.
Nothing is really easy in Zambia, a beautiful country of open skies, vast plains, and exotic wildlife that's straight out of the pages of National Geographic but whose populace shares the ills that afflict so much of Africa, from poverty to HIV and malaria to limited educational opportunities. Yet the locals we encountered displayed only enthusiasm and curiosity for our unlikely caravan of Jeeps as we paraded through the settlement of Mfuwe and paused in small villages full of thatched-roof mud huts. A Westerner's pangs of guilt for driving a vehicle that costs more than most Zambians will earn in a lifetime are somewhat ameliorated by the knowledge that tour companies such as our hosts, Robin Pope Safaris, maintain good relations with residents and are major contributors to local economies. One of our local guides was astonished to learn that our preproduction, prototype test vehicles were destined for the crusher once they were shipped back to the States. "Leave them here," he offered, "and we'll make good use of them."
The Wrangler's newfound civility begins with a frame that's twice as stiff in bending and 50 percent stiffer torsionally compared with the 2006 model's, a wheelbase that's two inches longer, and a track that's 3.5 inches wider. Black plastic fender flares in place of body-color flares help disguise the fact that the Wrangler is nearly half a foot wider overall. The additional width results in a more surefooted vehicle with more room for shoulders and hips, plus space for the new, seat-mounted side air bags to deploy. The longer wheelbase allowed chief engineer Jim Issner to position the fuel tank ahead of the rear axle, a crash-regulation necessity, and it also translates to a better ride and a bit more rear-seat legroom. Overall cargo volume with the rear seats folded grows by thirteen cubic feet, to 56.5 cubic feet, and with the rear seats upright there's still 17.1 cubic feet, eight more than before. The vehicle's increased width didn't seem to be a liability when I threaded my way through some of the tighter off-roading situations, but miles of elephant grass and narrow two-tracks lined with gnarly trees and shrubs badly scratched the body sides of our Wranglers.
The five-passenger Wrangler Unlimited inhabits its own new market niche: the four-door convertible. (The 2004-06 long-wheelbase, two-door Wrangler heads into automotive history, ceding the Unlimited badge to the new four-door.) Its 116.0-inch wheelbase is up twenty inches over the standard model and thirteen inches over the previous Unlimited. There's 86.5 cubic feet of cargo space if the rear seats are folded and 46.0 cubic feet when they're in place. The rear seats aren't stretch-out roomy, but they made for a decent viewing perch for a five-hour safari drive.
Jeep wisely ditched the old four-cylinder engine, which was altogether inadequate for pavement use. The in-line six is gone, too, replaced by Chrysler's stalwart 3.8-liter V-6, here making 205 hp and 240 lb-ft of torque. Jeep purists might find it difficult to wrap their heads around the notion of a minivan engine, but the demise of the old 4.0-liter lump is hardly worth misty eyes. They'd do better to complain about the lack of an optional five-speed automatic (a four-speed is offered), but at least the manual has six forward speeds.
Jeep beefed up the Wrangler's solid front and rear axles, key components of its off-road arsenal, for the top-of-the-line Rubicon, which was the only trim level--of both long- and short-wheelbase vehicles--that we drove in Zambia. The suspension links, coil springs, and recirculating-ball steering of all models have been massaged, and now when you're in the new Wrangler, you feel like you're driving a real vehicle rather than piloting a small farm tractor. This effect is, unsurprisingly, magnified in the four-door.
Both two- and four-door Wranglers will exit Jeep's Toledo, Ohio, factory with either Command-Trac (X, Sahara) or Rock-Trac (Rubicon) four-wheel drive and a two-speed transfer case, but the four-door Unlimited also will be offered with rear-wheel drive only, in an acknowledgement of its expected role as an urban lifestyle conveyance in the Sun Belt. The differences in ride comfort between short- and long-wheelbase Wranglers were obvious when our caravan bounced and jounced along a trail across the Lundu Plain. Since Zambia's rainy season had ended, the self-churning clay that had been worked up by the feet of elephants and hippos and cape buffalo had dried into an unforgiving moonscape that threatened to pitch occupants of the short-wheelbase Wranglers onto the piles of roadside dung, while those of us in the long-wheelbase models sipped ginger ale and changed CD tracks.
The Lundu Plain probably isn't recognized by the optional new navigation system, which has a virtual-breadcrumb feature for retracing one's off-road steps. It's just one of the Wrangler's nods to modernity. Others include power windows and locks, stability control, and a surprisingly good six-speaker stereo capable of storing 2500 songs in its hard drive.
The Wrangler embraces the new without forgetting what it is that makes a Wrangler a Wrangler. That's why you can still fold down the windshield, pull the pins out of the exposed hinges and remove the doors, and peel away all or part of the roof to expose yourself to the admiring world. The latter exercise is made easier by new top and door combinations such as the three-piece Freedom Top, which has separate, removable panels over the driver and the front-seat passenger. In the past, the Wrangler's hard top was an all-or-nothing, garage-clogging proposition.
The long, slow, but successful crawl through the narrow, rocky riverbed is finally over. Our patience is rewarded by a different riverbed, this one a meandering ribbon a hundred yards wide and carpeted with a thick layer of loose, dry sand. I've left some space between my Wrangler Unlimited and the rest of the caravan, so I feel like I'm all alone in the world's largest sandbox, and instead of aimlessly pushing a Tonka Toy, I'm at the wheel of one of the world's best off-roaders. I hit the accelerator, bounce over sandbars, careen from side to side, and head for the hippos.


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The SCD 3MW turbine has been jointly-developed over three years by Mingyang Wind Power and German engineering specialist Aerodyn, for offshore wind farms.
By using the modular design concept, the two-bladed SCD turbine weighs about two thirds of traditional doubly-fed turbines. According to Mingyang, the turbine has its planetary two-stage gearbox and a medium slow running synchronous generator integrated in the nacelle.
The special design contributes to the reduction in the total weight and size of the wind turbine. Lower operational speed of the integrated design of the machine minimizes the wear of components.
Yaw system and certain other components are installed inside of the turbine tower, which reduces the external components. Moreover, the compact and enclosed design also improves the resistance to corrosion.
"This will consolidate our position as an international wind power development and utilization overall solutions supplier in three years," said Zhang Chuanwei, president of the board of directors of Mingyang Wind Power.
"We will complete the development of the 6MW SCD turbines by the end of this year," said Zhang.
Mingyang Wind Power is one of the five companies in the country capable of producing MW level wind turbines. At the end of 2009, its product represented 3.5 percent of Chinese wind capacity, with a total of 895.5MW installed wind turbines.
It has an annual capacity of producing 5GW wind turbines ranging from 1.5MW through 3MW.

subset: commoncrawl


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CRESTVIEW � Even after 70 years, George Mazock still cries when he thinks about his time during World War II.
CRESTVIEW � Even after 70 years, George Mazock still cries when he thinks about his time during World War II.
The 90-year-old Army Air Corps veteran says there were hard days during his 20 years in the military, but despite the emotional moments it was one of the best times of his life.
He says he was doing what he always wanted to do: fly.
�Dad wanted me to be a mechanic, but I wanted to fly, man, fly,� Mazock said as he showed visitors to his home his wall of honor featuring four generations of military in his family. �I wanted to fly for as long as I could make model airplanes. It�s all I wanted to do.�
At 21, just a month after World War II broke out, Mazock joined the Army Air Corps. After a short stint as an instructor he was recruited to become one of a handful of men in an experimental group taken from training straight to combat under Lt. Col. Claire Lee Chennault.
Mazock became one of the Flying Tigers, who flew only at night and under poor weather conditions with little to no equipment to guide them.
�A lot of people didn�t realize what was happening in China, but while we were there we held off 1.5 million Japanese. That would have made a difference,� Mazock said.
He said during his thousands of hours of flying he gained the name �Death Takes a Holiday Mazock� for his grace under fire.
�A lot of the men would only fly with George because they knew he would get them back,� said Mazock�s wife, Beth Mazock. �He was a talented pilot.�
Mazock said one of his most memorable missions was in 1943 when Chennault recruited him to fly over the Himalayas, or the �Hump,� into China.
�All I wanted to know was why and if I had enough gas to get back,� Mazock said. �All I was told was that I was picking up 17 very important people.�
When he landed on the speck of land described by his lieutenant, he learned who would be his passengers: 17 escaped prisoners of war who had been on the run for more than three months.
�To think what they had gone through,� Mazock said, pausing as tears filled his eyes. �To me, in one way I hated seeing them, but in another way I had to see them. No matter, we got them out.�
While loading up the men, Mazock said his fear of running out of gasoline came true. But hidden gas left over from the Doolittle Raid the year before was found and used to get Mazock and his passengers back to base.
Over the course of his career, Mazock flew 8,000 hours in a variety of aircraft, from his Flying Tiger days with the C-47 to his later years with the KC-97.
As Mazock shares his stories he never talks about wars, just situations such as the �Korean Situation� and the �Vietnam Situation.� He says he always will look back at his time in the military as a pleasant memory.
�I was one of the few that enjoyed the war,� Mazock said. �I did what I wanted to do: I flew.�
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.


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Acute and emergency care - prescribing the remedy
Acute and emergency care departments face profound pressures. This report outlines recommendations for delivering a sustainable and resilient emergency care system. It is intended for Government officials, national bodies, commissioners, providers, professional bodies and clinicians.
Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s – consultation response
In October 2019, we responded to the Department of Health and Social Care's consultation on their prevention green paper, which looks at how our health is shaped by the environment in which we live, the choices we make and the services we receive.
Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s - our summary
In July 2019, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published their prevention green paper, building on the Secretary of State's prevention vision that was announced in November 2018. The paper contains a number of proposals to tackle the causes of preventable ill health in the England. He...
Adverse childhood experiences – consultation response
In 2017 we responded to the Science and Technology Committee's inquiry into evidence-based early-years intervention.
APPG inquiry into the 'Five Year Forward View on Mental Health'- consultation response
In 2018 the College replied to calls for evidence on this APPG. We welcome the inquiry into the implementation of the plan. Promoting child and young people's mental health remains a top priority for the college, as laid out in our State of Child health report.
APPG Obesity Inquiry - consultation response
In 2018 the RCPCH responded to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Obesity inquiry, noting that the obesity represents one of the greatest threats to children and young people and to the future of the nation.
Autism (Wales) Bill – consultation response
In 2018 we responded to the Welsh Government's draft Bill for Autism. We welcome calls for increased resource to support children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and improve outcomes for children with ASD. However, we are concerned about the possible unintended consequences of this proposed legi...
Best practice examples of health transition
The page highlights examples of good practice from across the UK of effective transition from children's to adults' health services.
Body mass index (BMI) chart
The BMI centile is a simple and reliable indicator of a healthy body weight in childhood. Where severe overweight or underweight is a concern, or where there is a need for monitoring weight over time, BMI can be calculated and plotted on this chart.
Care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery – consultation response
We responded to the Department for Education in 2017 with recommendations that child health professionals be included in the assessment process to determine whether a child is the victim of modern slavery and human trafficking. Government must allocate more financial resource in order for Local Auth...


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We are very excited to bring you this amazing yarn range! One ball of Zauberball Sock Yarn = one pair of socks or a gorgeous scarf. The range of colours and blends from earthy to vibrant means you can create some very unique knitwear.
There are lots of great patterns on Ravelry for this yarnCrazy Zauberball - Zauberball with a 2-strand twist that gives a gorgeous 'tweed' color blending effect.
Color: Not the Foggiest420m = 100g75% virgin wool, 25% nylonNeedle size: 2-3mm
View our full sock yarn range here >>


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The historical development of management concepts and practices and the historical roles of the individual managers. Major topics include: historical assessments of the social consequences of management; reexaminations of established historical concepts; the historic role of the behavioral sciences in the emergence of management practices; historical development of management of present-day companies;
historical analysis of management philosophy; ways of using historical materials, new directions in historical research and oral history; the importance of a historical perspective in international management; historical aspects of quality control, cultures, and health and safety in the workplace; and topics that, although they may fall within some other division's domain, draw on historical data that are firmly rooted in a historical perspective.
Learn more about the Management History Division of the Academy of Management:
Domain Statement OfficersManagement History Division Website Online Newsletter Facebook PageTwitter: Hashtag #mhaomLinkedIn
2014 Annual Awards


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The Plan for Life enables our Scouts to develop a map by which to lead their life
We provide a Plan for Life Questionnaire to get our Scouts started
The Plan for Life has three segments: present, medium term, and long term
The Scout Programs of Adventure Scouts USA are on the cusp of innovative youth programming. As comprehensive, modern Scout Programs, we take the universal values of the past and combine them with cutting-edge programs and activities our Scouts want to participate in today. One of our innovations is the Game Plan for Life, and one part of it is the Plan for Life.
The Plan for Life
Rarely do youth get the opportunity to spend time simply improving their lives. This is not school, and our Scouts get the opportunity to create a tool for themselves that is comprehensive, personal, and FUN. It is made by our Scouts, for our Scouts. The Plan for Life allows Scouts to answer a series of questions about what is important to them, what they can improve, and where they would like their life to go.
The Plan for Life is a map of where of our Scouts want to go in their lives. It has three different segments: present or short term, medium term, and long term. The Plan for Life is a map our Scouts create by themselves for themselves. Like pirates or treasure-hunters of old, our Scouts use their map to hunt down treasure. But the treasure is not silver or gold; it is a life of purpose lived on their terms.
Creating the Plan for Life
We provide our Scouts with a series of questions they can answer. It can be written out, or our Scouts can also take advantage of our online program, which allows our Scouts to create their Plan for Life while building computer skills
Starting at the End – Planning Long Term First
It is very easy in life to lose sight of a goal. People get busy, have other responsibilities, and sometimes the goal just seems too big. That is where starting with the end point can help.
We encourage our Scouts to start with their long-term goals. The advantage of working backwards is that goals that may seem difficult or even impossible can be split up into manageable pieces. To ask our Scouts to create a map to being a successful doctor one day may sound a bit daunting. However, when they start at the end, it becomes easier. The goal is to become a successful doctor. Okay, what does our Scout need to be doing several years before that? Going to medical school of course! That is also a long-term goal. What does our Scout need to be doing a few years from now? Taking science and physics courses in high school and getting good grades. What does our Scout need to be doing in the next couple of years to get good grades in high school? They should be exploring Biology by reading books and going to science centers. What do they need to be doing today? Exploring and fostering their passion for Biology.
A Tool for the Present and Future
As our Scouts grow and change, so will their Plan for Life. The Plan can be used everyday and can assist our Scouts with short-term goals such as the desire to be a better sibling, but it can also serve as a tool for the future, such as planning how to fulfill the desire of being a doctor. We encourage our Scouts to use and update their Plan for Life daily.
Keeping Our Scouts on Track Everywhere
The purpose of the Plan for life is to keep our Scouts focused, organized, and oriented on the path of their choice. Our Scouts can use their Plan for Life not only in their programs, meetings, and activities but also in school, with friends, and with family.
It can be very easy for adults, much less youth, to become distracted from their goals. The Plan for Life is intended to keep our Scouts thinking about the choices that will keep them in the game long term – even when those choices are hardest, such as in social situations. Our Scouts make choices that will take them where they want to go.
Below are some issues our Scouts may choose to include in their Plan for Life:
The Plan for Life is a map for our Scouts follow to the life of their choosing. We want all our Scouts to live happy, healthy lives with strong relationships, and great success. Our Scouts choose to follow their map to their own life of purpose. "X" marks the spot!


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Internal French Folding Room Dividers
Internal Folding French Room divider sets, with folding sidelights which allow the doors and sidelights to be folded right back against the wall.View Range
Internal bifold doors or, as they are also known, roomfold doors, are an attractive way of creating a sense of intimacy in larger open plan rooms.View Range
These interior bi-fold doors allow you to choose bigger door panels to cover a wide range of structural openings, from 1228mm up to 4600mm, and are supplied with all you need for the complete installation (excludes handle and latch).View Range
Climadoors latest offer, The Secure Range, offers new-build customers a fuly Part Q and Part L compliant grey aluminium bifold door. Complete with secure-by-design tested multipoint locking system, and laminated safety glazing. This thermally broken bifold patio door system is offered on a 7-10 day lead time in standard sizes. The laminated safety glazing has a U-Value of 1.1W/m2 K to give an over U-Value of 1.6W/m2K.
These sets give you excellent security, good durability and a pre-manufactued and supplied as frame, door leaves and glass units with all hardware ready fitted. They are supplied with a full set of fitting instructutions to show you how to install the frame and doors into the opening.
Made-to-measure options are available. Please email email@example.com for your quote. Lead time on made-to-measure is still 7-10 days.


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|Emperor Sigismund and the Electors,
German-language copy of the Golden Bull of Charles IV
Stadtarchiv Ulm A Urk. Ve. 1356 Januar 10, fol. 1v
At an exhibition held last year at Neuburg an der Donau, the chief work in focus was a 15th-century Bible, the Ottheinrich Bible. Regarded as the earliest surviving illustrated manuscript of the New Testament in the German language, it was originally commissioned around 1430 by Ludwig VII, the Bearded, Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt. It was illuminated by three Regensburg painters, but its decoration remained unfinished - only to be completed by the artist Mathis Gerung in 1530–31. The manuscript was later split up into eight volumes, and after a rather complicated history, now all of its parts are at the Bavarian State Library in Munich - on their website, you can browse the digitized volumes of the Bible.
The exhibition, titled Kunst und Glaube, contained lots of interesting objects, as far as I can tell based on the catalogue. I was most interested in objects dating from the period of Ludwig VII of Bavaria (Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt between 1413-1447), a contemporary of King and Emperor Sigismund, and a noted patron of the arts. Perhaps the most well-known of his commissions is the small-scale model of this tombstone, made by Hans Multscher around 1435 (Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum). This tomb was never executed in full size. The Ottheinrich Bible was also one of his important commissions, which remained unfinished.
|Double page from the Ottheinrich Bible, c. 1430 (vol. 2.)
One of the objects in this section was a fragmentary manuscript of the Golden Bull of Charles IV, which was illuminated by the workshop of the Ottheinrich Bible (the so-calle Matthäusmaler). The manuscript was executed in Regensburg, and its surviving fragment is kept at the Town Archives of Ulm (See catalogue record). The fragment was identified as dating from this period by professor Robert Suckale, who provided a study about the Ottheinrich Bible for the catalogue (and also contributed to the catalogue entry in question, cat. no. 5.18). The fragment consists of only three leafs, containing a German translation of the Golden Bull issued in 1356. On the verso of the first folio, a group portrait of the Holy Roman Emperor with the Electors is depicted (see above). As Sigismund was also the King of Bohemia from 1419, only six Electors are depicted around the Emperor. On fol. 2r, the fragment also includes the full page depiction of coat of arms of a certain Hans Kastenmayer of Straubing - an image very similar to those included on armorial letters issued by the imperial chancery at that time, and the fragment also contains a nice initial.
|Decorated page of the Ulm fragment


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Joint press point
with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the new Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill
- English
- French
ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN (Secretary General of NATO): Good afternoon. I'm pleased today to announce that I have selected Ambassador Mark Sedwill to be my new Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan.
Ambassador Sedwill is eminently qualified to take up the post as Civilian Representative in Kabul. Currently Ambassador Sedwill serves as the British Ambassador to Afghanistan. He knows the country, the Afghan people and the Afghan government very well. He's also very well acquainted with the region. He has been British Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan, which of course also is a very important aspect. So all in all I have confidence in Ambassador Sedwill. You will have my full support.
Ambassador Sedwill will be faced with very important challenges in the coming time. One of the big challenges will be to strengthen the organization and coordination of the civilian assistance to Afghanistan.
We need a reinforced interaction between our military efforts and our civilian reconstruction and development, and that will be a core function for my Civilian Representative in Afghanistan.
You're well equipped for this job and I look very much forward to cooperating with you.
Ambassador Sedwill will follow in the footsteps of Ambassador Fernando Gentilini, who, until now, has served as the NATO Civilian Representative in Kabul. Ambassador Gentilini has done a great job in Kabul and I would like to thank him very much for what he has done. I congratulate him on his strong determination and professionalism in executing his job in Kabul. And now I look forward to cooperating with my new Senior Civilian Representative. Ambassador.
MARK SEDWILL (Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan): Secretary General, thank you very much. First, it's a great honour for me to have been appointed to this position. I'm very grateful to you, Secretary General, for your confidence. I hope I can continue to earn that over the months and years ahead.
Like you, I'd also like to pay tribute to the work of my predecessor, Ambassador Fernando Gentilini, with whom I've worked closely over the past year. He's become a good friend, and on his work I look forward to building.
As the Secretary General has indicated, there is a great deal to do in Afghanistan over the next year to bring together the military, political and civilian efforts in support of the government of Afghanistan, to really turn around this campaign and achieve success. We need to regain the initiative against the insurgency, strengthen the Afghan institutions, military and civil, and tackle some of those underlying political tensions, at all levels, that fuel the insurgency.
And I look forward to playing my part in doing that and to trying to help a more coherent international effort, civilian alongside the military, to achieve that goal, and I'm, again, very, very grateful to you, Secretary General, for your confidence and I look forward to working for you and with you over the next months and years as we seek to achieve success in this campaign that is vital to us all. A stable Afghanistan will deliver for us all a safer world.
Thank you.
JAMES APPATHURAI (NATO Spokesman): Questions.
Q: Ben Nimmo from the German Press Agency, DPA, for both gentlemen. On the question of governance and corruption, is President Karzai solely part of the solution, or is he also part of the problem given the performance in the elections last year? Thank you.
ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN: Well, President Karzai has committed himself strongly to a determined fight against corruption. He made that very clear in his inauguration speech last year. He will at the upcoming London conference present his plans as to how the Afghan government will strengthen the fight against corruption. I feel confident that he will live up to pledges.
MARK SEDWILL: I have nothing to add. I would agree with everything the Secretary General just said. I think that's absolutely right. There are clear commitments from President Karzai, from the government of Afghanistan, and of course, they will need our support in tackling these matters. But as the Secretary General says, I think we'll see substantial commitments on that at the London conference later this week.
Q: Lorne Cook from AFP. Secretary General, could you tell me a little bit, and perhaps Ambassador, about how the role is going to change? What other powers, what other team members you might have?
ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN: Well, I see at least three core functions for the Civilian Representative in Kabul.
Firstly, a strong capacity to engage with the international community locally, with other international actors, notably, of course, the United Nations. We fully respect UN leadership within civilian reconstruction and development in Afghanistan. But we would very much like to improve our engagement with the international community and that will be the first important role.
Secondly, strengthen capacity to engage constructively with the Afghan government. Notably with a view to capacity building. Not least, of course, in the transition process in direction of transfer of the lead security responsibility to the Afghan Security Forces.
And finally, I would mention the strong needs for an improved coordination among our Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan.
I see these three areas as main areas for the Civilian Representative.
Q: (Inaudible...) for the BBC. Ambassador Sedwill, you spoke last week about a civilian surge going on our side to the military surge. What do you mean by that, and are you in this new role going to lead this civilian surge?
MARK SEDWILL: I don't think it's for me to lead a civilian surge. That, of course, as the Secretary General has already said, is to be led by the UN and we operate under a UN mandate in Afghanistan. And, of course, really are looking to the Afghan government themselves to develop more leadership and more capability across the range of the governance and development agenda.
But many countries, including the U.K., but particularly, of course, the United States, are matching their increase in troops and military forces with an increase in the civilian programs and, indeed, in the experts they're willing to provide.
We all understand that security is only really the first step. If we're to really stabilize Afghanistan and win over the Afghan people so that they genuinely support the legitimate authorities of Afghanistan, we have to help those authorities develop the capability to deliver real governance, strong and fair justice, jobs and other economic development on the ground out there in the villages and the towns, particularly of the south and east where the conflict is at its height, but of course, across the whole country.
And so all of that needs to come together. And alongside this increase in military resources we need to make sure that all of those other efforts on governance and development follow along and therefore the people of Afghanistan see the benefits on the ground.
JAMES APPATHURAI: I'm afraid that's all we have time for, Secretary General.
MARK SEDWILL: Thank you.


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QMM in Madagascar (PDF, 356 Kb)
June 16, 2011
QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM) was given the green light in 2005 to develop an ilmenite (titanium dioxide) mine near Fort-Dauphin in South East Madagascar. In 2006, QMM appointed Sodexo to kick start operations with the island's first large scale Pioneer Village. Achieving this in a country with no existing infrastructure and in one of the most inaccessible areas of the island demonstrates Sodexo's exceptional expertise and dedication in delivering for its clients, solutions that go beyond their expectations.


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Each year on March 22, World Water Day attracts international attention to the conservation and development of freshwater resources.
In December 2010, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2013 as the United Nations International Year of Water Cooperation. The Water Cooperation 2013 campaign aims to promote water cooperation—across different types of organizations and governments and across different disciplines—as a foundation for peace and sustainable development.
CDC works hand-in-hand with partners around the world to improve access to healthy water because:
- Water cooperation is key to poverty eradication, social equity, and gender equality. Access to safe water is a basic human need. Participation and cooperation among different groups can help to overcome inequity in access to water, contribute to poverty eradication, and improve living conditions and educational opportunities, especially for women and children.
- Water cooperation creates economic benefits. All economic activities depend on water. Working together can lead to more efficient and sustainable uses of water resources, such as projects that create mutual benefits and better living standards.
- Water cooperation is crucial to preserving water resources and protecting the environment. Cooperation helps the sharing of knowledge about the scientific aspects of water, including data and information exchange, management strategies and best practices, and knowledge about the role of water in preserving ecosystems, which is fundamental to sustainable development.
- Water cooperation builds peace. Access to water can be a source of conflicts, but it can also lead to teamwork and peace building. Cooperation on such a practical and vital issue can help overcome cultural, political and social tensions and can build trust among different groups, communities, regions, and states.
For more information on World Water Day and ideas on how to get involved, visit the United Nations' World Water Day website (http://www.unwater.org/watercooperation2013).
CDC's Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Expertise
Inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions exist in a range of settings, from temporary refugee camps to entire neighborhoods in large cities.
Since 1990, the number of persons able to access improved drinking water and sanitation resources has increased by 2 billion and 1.8 billion respectively. Despite these gains, hundreds of millions still lack access to these essential resources. Diarrheal diseases, mostly a result of unsafe water and inadequate sanitation, account for 1 in 9 child deaths worldwide. In 2010, over 800,000 children under 5 years of age died from diarrhea, making diarrhea the second leading cause of death among children under the age of 5.
CDC's global WASH work involves partnerships with other US government agencies, ministries of health, non-governmental organizations, UN agencies, private companies and various international agencies. Our program provides expertise and interventions aimed at saving lives and reducing illness by improving global access to healthy and safe water, adequate sanitation, and improved hygiene. The WASH program works on long-term prevention and control measures for improving health, reducing poverty, and improving socioeconomic development as well as responding to global emergencies and outbreaks of life-threatening illnesses. These improvements reduce the lethal impact of WASH-related diseases ranging from cholera to typhoid fever to hepatitis.


text: Shop by Area Shop Our Categories www.gooddirections.com Weathervanes Eagles Herons Horses Roosters Garden Weathervanes Tabletop Weathervanes Hanging Weathervane Signs Mounting All Weathervanes Cupolas Cupola Combinations Vinyl Louvered Cupolas Vinyl Windowed Cupolas Wood Louvered Cupolas Finials Planters Boot Trays Birding Bird Feeders Bird Houses Bird Baths Bird House & Feeder Posts Rain Chains Yard Hose Pots Planters Armillaries Fire Pits & Torches Mailboxes & Posts Lanterns & Posts Window Boxes Trug Baskets Shop by Category Shop by Theme Nautical Wildlife Traditional Plane Train Auto Farm Animals Birds Pets Patriotic Sporting Mythology Fun & Story Weathervanes Eagles Herons Horses Roosters Garden Weathervanes Tabletop Weathervanes Hanging Weathervane Signs Mounting Cupolas Cupola Combinations Vinyl Louvered Cupolas Vinyl Windowed Cupolas Wood Louvered Cupolas Finials Trug Baskets Boot Trays Fire Pits & Torches Hose Pots Window Boxes & Planters Rain Chains Lanterns & Posts Mailboxes & Posts Bird Feeders Bird Houses Bird Baths Bird House & Feeder Posts Home > Cupolas > Vinyl Louvered Cupolas > Southington Vinyl Cupola with Copper Roof Alternative Views: For over 35 years, Good Directions cupolas have been the perfect complement to your home, garage, shed, barn, gazebo, pool house, carriage house, horse barn, or pavilion. Our expertly crafted, made to order, Southington louvered cupola features roof molding and reinforced interior supports for added strength. It's made to order in the USA from durable, maintenancefree Royal Brand PVCvinyl, constructed with precision using a CNC Router for accuracy and a lifetime of enjoyment. The Southington Cupola features a 16ounce, 24 gauge copper, pagoda style roof that adds an architectural element of beauty and lasting value to your home. Our cupolas arrive in 3 sections for easy installation, includes assembly hardware and easytofollow detailed installation instructions, and are weathervane ready with a builtin internal mounting bracket. YouTube videos are also available to walk you through the installation step by step. Good Directions vinyl cupolas have an industry exclusive Lifetime Warranty. For a distinctive finishing touch to your home, add a Good Directions weathervane or finial.MAINTENANCE FREE, ROT FREE, ROYAL© BRAND SOLID CELLULAR PVC VINYL expertly crafted using a CNC Router, for a precision cut every time. May be painted with exterior acrylic latex paint.24 GAUGE PURE COPPER ROOF Grade 1, 16 ounce pure copper roof will naturally patina over time.SUPERIOR STRENGTH Roof has reinforced rafters. Louvered mid-section equipped with interior wood framing brace. 18 gauge Heavy Duty staples used instead of single nails to prevent components from shifting and for increased strength and durability.DIMENSIONS Square size measured at roofline. Fits up to a 10/12 pitch roof (most roofs). When calculating the size of your cupola, use our steadfast builder's rule of thumb: 1.5 inches of cupola width for every foot of unbroken roofline. See photo for more information. MADE IN THE USA Made to Order. LIFETIME WARRANTY Industry Exclusive Lifetime Warranty. Item# Item Name Our Price Qty Add P26SL Southington Vinyl Cupola with Copper Roof 26" x 42" $930.00 P30SL Southington Vinyl Cupola with Copper Roof 30" x 50" $1,195.00 P36SL Southington Vinyl Cupola with Copper Roof 36" x 57" $1,470.00 P42SL Southington Vinyl Cupola with Copper Roof 42" x 66" $1,740.00 P48SL Southington Vinyl Cupola with Copper Roof 48" x 79" $2,055.00 P60SL Southington Vinyl Cupola with Copper Roof 60" x 98" $2,915.00 Check the items you wish to purchase, then click Shipping Information: Cupolas ship within 2 weeks.All Cupolas up to 26" square will be shipped via UPS. Cupolas 30" square and larger will ship via motor freight. Additional shipping charges may apply.California Proposition 65 Browse for more products in the same category as this item: Cupolas > Vinyl Louvered Cupolas


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The Ultimate Mini Album Website
Welcome to the world of making mini scrapbooks! Some friends and I have put together a treasure trove of absolutely FREE tutorials on creating these wonderful minis! These small books have become so popular over the last few years and they just seem to be getting more and more popular.
The tutorials within this website include books such as paper
bag books, envelope books, accordion books, star books, maze books,
matchbooks, mini file folder books, library pocket books, coffee filter
books, flag books, flip books, tag books, and many others. If you do not
see a particular book that you are looking for on the left hand column,
please dig around on the site because there are several categories
within the site that include even more free scrapbooking tutorials. For instance, you might click on the button that says Origami books and find three different types of mini albums right there - an accordion origami book, a blizzard book and a shirt book. Under the envelope book button there are 7 different types of envelope books. You get the idea!
I love these kinds of mini albums, particularly when they have lots of pockets and tags! I love pull-outs and doors and little hidden treasures. We are also including some tutorials on book binding, techniques and featured blogs, etc.
Making your own mini albums gives you such a sense of accomplishment. You can easily complete one in an afternoon or a weekend.
Handmade scrapbooks make fabulous gifts. I love it when I give a gift and the recipient will say, "You made this?! Wow!" It makes me feel so good and I know they appreciate the effort that went into creating a special gift just for them.
I take lots and lots of pictures when I am with my family and friends, so I always have a good variety of photos to draw ideas from to make these special gifts.
Mini scrapbook albums are actually not that difficult to make, and I'm always pleasantly surprised when I complete one at how easy it really was.
My goal is to show you how easy and enjoyable these scrapbooks are to make for yourself by giving you clear step-by-step instructions, as well as photographs to help you on your way to making your own books.
I want to invite every visitor to this site to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can find links below!
Follow the Making Mini Scrapbooks Blog


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Outside View: Getting out of the budget and debt morass
COLLEGE PARK, Md., Oct. 4 (UPI) —
The U.S. government shutdown is proving less draconian than presidential warnings but failing to raise the debt ceiling and default would be another matter.
So many government activities have been deemed essential by legislation or presidential order that only 15 percent of the federal government is closed. The mail is moving and air traffic controllers are keeping the planes flying. Closed national parks are an inconvenience but at least the Internal Revenue Service has been furloughed from targeting conservatives for advocating reforms and other crimes against the revolution.
Still the shutdown can't go on too long without unprocessed small business loans and mortgages dragging growth but a resolution requires U.S. President Barack Obama and Tea Party to recognize the unreality of their positions.
The Affordable Care Act is seen by many as an illegitimate law. Unlike all past major social legislation, Democrats in Congress denied Republicans any opportunity to participate in its drafting and dragooned it through the Senate by attaching it to a budget reconciliation bill requiring no Republican votes.
When the individual mandate raised serious constitutional questions, Obama intimidated Chief Justice John Roberts into writing a legally incomprehensive decision to avoid damaging the Supreme Court's longer-term standing.
Those episodes reduced the ACA to little more than a presidential edict.
To resolve the funding crisis, the president should agree to delay the individual mandate a year — just as he has done for businesses — and propose negotiations with Republicans that would make the law more universally acceptable.
For its part, the Tea Party must let go of free market fantasies that the United States can return to the healthcare status quo ante — the old system was broken, cost 50 percent more than what the Germans pay and delivers less-effective care by most measures.
If the debt ceiling isn't raised, the United States doesn't have to default. Taxes will be collected and the Treasury will have 80 percent of the revenues needed to meet anticipated FY2014 commitments.
Obama would have to set priorities to ensure that interest is paid. That entails spending cuts deeper than those imposed by the shutdown but hardly anything the country cannot endure until the two sides reach broad agreement on the shape of future budgets. That requires the president and Republicans to compromise on entitlements and a growth agenda for the economy.
Obama must accept legitimate reforms that restrict citizens and health service providers from gaming Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare and to accept some Republican suggestions for stimulating growth. Those include easing restrictions on drilling offshore and in Alaska and modifications to Dodd-Frank banking and other business regulations to reduce bureaucratic burdens.
Republicans must recognize a broad safety net is part of the American cultural fabric. Most everyone wants low-income Americans to have access to decent healthcare and some measure of income security — even if the Tea Party is correct to demand those don't reduce incentives to work.
Both sides want tax reforms but reform is in the eyes of the beholder. Who couldn't agree that everyone should pay something? And our principal competitors abroad tax both corporations and individuals much less aggressively, encouraging businesses and entrepreneurs to move wealth and good jobs abroad.
It's high time for the Tea Party to abandon rhetoric about makers and takers and unrealistic demands about the ACA, entitlements and taxes.
It's high time the president curb his aggressive speaking tours that stir passions but do little to solve the country's problems back in Washington.
The framers established a separation of powers between the president and Congress for a reason. It mandates tolerance and compromise so that all interests are served, however imperfectly the limits of human wisdom may provide.
Both sides need to recognize these, cool the rhetoric and make deals that move the country forward. That's what a successful democracy demands of them.
(Peter Morici, an economist and professor at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, is a widely published columnist. Follow him on Twitter: @pmorici1.)


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Another Saturday Night Live alum will be stopping by Chatswin!
Tim Meadows has been cast as Edmond, Malik's dad on ABC's Suburgatory, TVGuide.com has learned. He will be joined by Paula Newsome (NYPD Blue), who has been cast as Malik's mom, Tracy.
Suburgatory scoop: SNL vet Rachel Dratch to lock horns with Sheila Shay
Edmond, is described as the strong patriarch of a close-knit family who moved to Chatswin for the schools, not the people. Edmond boasts one heck of a turkey meatball recipe, but blames himself for the childhood death of his younger brother. Both Edmond and Tracy, will appear the seventh and eighth episodes of Season 2.
Meadows is just one of several SNL vets to land a role on the ABC comedy. Ana Gasteyer and Chris Parnell play Sheila and Fred Shay, and Jay Mohr recurred last season as Dallas' now-ex-husband, Steve. Rachel Dratch is also set to guest-star in the second episode of the new season as a longtime frenemy of Sheila's.
Malin Akerman moves into Suburgatory as Tessa's mom
Meadows most recently starred on TBS' Glory Daze. Newsome is also known for her work on Women's Murder Club and most recently reprised her role as Vance's wife on NCIS.
The new season of Suburgatory premieres on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.


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Memory Eternal! + Walter Parhamovich
His Grace Bishop Basil writes:
Walter Parhamovich, a longtime member of the Archdiocesan Board of Trustees, reposed on Sunday, May 29th and was buried from his parish church of St Michael/Las Vegas, NV on June 4th. He is survived by his wife Grace Mary to whom condolences may be sent: 8425 Apple Hilly Court - Las Vegas, NV 89128-7635. Please join me in praying a rope for the repose of Walter's soul, saying, "O Lord Jesus Christ, grant rest to the soul of Thy departed servant." May he be granted Paradise, and may you be granted long life.


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TaylorMade R11 No 5 Fairway Wood 19 Degrees Mens Stiff Flex Right Hand.
Description: TaylorMade R11 5 Wood
Condition: 6/10
Handed: Right-Handed
Loft: 19 Deg
Flex: Stiff
Head cover: No
Wrench: Yes (Callaway Universal Wrench)
All the clubs offered for sale have been used in our hire company, Clubstohire.com, the largest golf club rental company in the world. Clubs have been played with and cared for in an appropriate fashion. The markings that you will likely find on products will show typical wear of models of its age. All of the wear is purely cosmetic, and will not in any way affect the performance of the club.
Among the wear that you may see on clubs:
* Normal ball marks and scratching on the face;
* Normal scratching on the sole;
* Minor dings and nicks on the crown and/or around the edges of the head;
Light scratches, paint chips, paint blemishes on or around the crown.


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Image size – Width – 90mm, Height – 144mm
The Annie Sloan stencils are 0.15mm thick and made from PET clear phthalate free plastic. Annie specifically chose clear plastic so that you can see exactly what you're stencilling over when you use them. It helps with creating repeating patterns and doing Annie's signature 'random overlapping' technique.
The stencils come in envelopes made from thick craft card.
Cleaning: the stencils are all washable. They are much easier to wash when the paint is still wet (i.e straight after use). Annie uses a damp sponge and warm soapy water. Stencils may get stained by the paint but this doesn't affect their future use.


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Neymar, Brazil open World Cup with heavy set of expectations
SAO PAULO, Brazil — His full name is Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, an unmanageable mouthful he has thankfully shortened to Neymar.
SAO PAULO, Brazil — His full name is Neymar da Silva Santos Junior, an unmanageable mouthful he has thankfully shortened to Neymar.
And though he stands just 5 feet 9 on his tippy-toes and weighs 142 pounds dripping wet, for the next month the unpretentious 22-year-old will be asked to shoulder the hopes of a nation as he leads host Brazil into the World Cup.
"I don't want to be the best player in the World Cup. I want to win the World Cup," he said Wednesday. "I am anxious, of course, but also I'm extremely happy because many people would like to be here."
The five-time champions, playing a World Cup at home for the first time in 64 years, kick off the tournament Thursday afternoon against Croatia at the 65,000-seat Arena Corinthians, a stadium so new finishing touches were still being applied Wednesday night.
But ready or not, the games are about to begin.
"For all Brazilians, I want to say our time has arrived," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "I want to go together. This is our World Cup. But to start we have to think of the first step. The first step is against Croatia."
Each subsequent step Scolari's team takes toward next month's final in Rio de Janeiro will get tougher. Not only is this 32-team field arguably the deepest in World Cup history but the tournament's $11 billion price tag makes it the most expensive World Cup of all time.
And that leaves Brazil, the tournament favorite, facing enormous pressure to unite an anxious and restive public, many of whom are unhappy about the cost of the games yet still expecting their team to win a record sixth championship.
"Brazil is so different. They are born with football in their blood and you will feel that now," said U.S. coach Juergen Klinsmann, who coached the German national team to the World Cup semifinals before a hopeful — and ultimately disappointed — home crowd in 2006.
"Obviously, they expect the title. At the same time the fans and the people will embrace it for the next four weeks and make it a big party throughout the country.
"It's easier to party if your team wins and scores many goals. It's always that way."
Soccer has often given Brazil reason to party. The national team hasn't lost at home since September 1975, a streak of 57 consecutive games that includes last summer's 3-0 win over defending World Cup champion Spain, the No. 1 team in the world.
Spain will challenge for the title again, as will No. 2 Germany. But no European team has ever won a World Cup played in the Americas, which could open the door for Argentina, Brazil's neighbor to the south.
And though Neymar — who former Brazilian great Pele said may someday follow him as the best player in the world — is the brightest star in Brazil's universe, he's not the only one. The deep roster includes captain Thiago Silva of Paris Saint-Germain, midfielder Oscar of Chelsea, and Fred, the team's high-scoring striker.
But if Scolari and Neymar were hopeful Wednesday, outside the stadium there was a mix of emotions. It's still not clear whether the country has resolved all of the issues that could disrupt the tournament, and many in this soccer-mad country of 200 million remain divided about whether having the World Cup here was a good idea in the first place.
Brazil's Homeless Workers Movement has had its demands met and will host a party rather than a protest Thursday while the transit strike that paralyzed Sao Paulo for most of the last week has been halted.
At the same time, 9,000 supporters of the "There will be no World Cup" movement have pledged to congregate along the city's subway line at a point between downtown and the stadium, from where they could disrupt the train service most fans will use to get to the opening game.
Even if mass protests don't materialize, much of the general population remains ambivalent about the tournament. Recent polls show more than half of Brazilians think the World Cup will do more harm than good for the country and said the money their government spent on the event could have been better used on needs such as health care, education and transportation infrastructure.
"For the first time in my life, I'm going to cheer against Brazil," Gilson Cunha, a 54-year-old contractor, said watching as workers painted a wall downtown Wednesday. "I'm not against the team itself, but I'm against all of the politics revolving around the tournament. If all of that money had gone to health care, we'd have better health care."
Behind him Albenia Abla, a 19-year-old deli worker, disagreed.
"For me, it's all good. Of course, people have complaints, legitimate complaints, about where our country has invested. But I'm excited and I'm going to cheer like crazy at home," she said. "No one agrees right now. Some people are really upset, and others prefer to enjoy the tournament. We're divided."
Now it's up to Neymar to give them all a lift.
"I really hope I can help my team in the best possible way to fulfill the dream of … Brazilians, which is to win the World Cup," he said.


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Hi guys,
Fourth chapter of the week.
Enjoy the chapter.
Posting Schedules
MKW: Daily ^^ – which I will do my best to accomplish as it is my new year goal ^^
Check out my Patreon for up to 10 chapters in advance and to support me if you are able to
Talk to me on Discord or highlight any mistakes you have found or chat with me about anything if I'm online
Here is the MKW chapter for today
TL: SkyFuji
Grammerly: Nekorus(when he decided to read it and let me know on discord)


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This product has been discontinued
Arai - Vector 2 Launch Helmet
Product Code: ARAI-VECTOR-2-LAUNCH-HELMET
- Description
- Reviews
- Customer Photos
Arai - Vector 2 Helmet
- Features SAI shield which is 5mm longer on each side.
- Multi-density 1-piece EPS liner.
- New, unique fully removable liner.
- New, unique removable cheek pads.
- New Hyper-Ridge bottom molding for larger, stronger opening.
- New chin vent design and placement.
- Rubber breath guard standard.
- Optional SAI Max-Vision Anti-fog shield and Anti-Fog Pinlock lens.
- Meets or exceeds Snell and D.O.T. standards.


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North Carolina earned an "F" for judicial financial disclosure, according to a report released this morning by the Center for Public Integrity.
The Center looked at three years of financial records submitted by state supreme court justices and evaluated the enforcement of disclosure rules, making these findings:
- Forty-two states and the District of Columbia received a failing grade in a Center evaluation of disclosure requirements for supreme court judges.
- Judges in three states — Montana, Utah and Idaho — aren't required to file any disclosure reports at all.
- Despite the poor disclosure rules, the Center's investigation found 35 examples of questionable gifts, investments overlapping with caseloads as well as other entanglements.
- In 14 instances over the past three years justices participated in cases where they or their spouses owned stock in companies involved in the litigation.
- Of the 273 supreme court justices required to disclose stock holdings, 107 reported owning stock.
- Twelve states rely on self-policing disciplinary bodies — made up of high-court justices themselves — to enforce the courts' ethical rules.
North Carolina fared relatively well among the states in terms of the disclosure required of supreme court justices (ranked 25th), but less so for judicial discipline, thanks to the "star chamber" bill passed by the General Assembly this summer which, as first reported by Policy Watch in July, allows the justices to discipline themselves in secret.
The report also highlighted instances in which Justices Paul Newby and Robert Edmunds participated in cases despite having financial interests in programs or companies before the court.
In one instance, Newby participated in cases concerning payments from the Tobacco Transition Payment Program, of which he was a beneficiary by virtue of a farm he owns.
In another, Justice Edmunds participated in a case decided in favor of Wells Fargo, despite owning stock in the company.
The Center's findings come at a time when the transparency and impartiality of the state's justices, Newby in particular, have been questioned in connection with the pending redistricting lawsuit. Plaintiffs there had asked Justice Newby to step out of the case, given that his 2012 reelection campaign had received more than a million dollars in contributions from the Republican State Leadership Committee — one of the principal architects of the redistricting plan at issue. That request was denied without any explanation from the court.
Read the full N.C. report here.


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The Dena study shows how the high-voltage grid needs to be expanded and optimised to the period 2020-25, assuming 39% of German electricity generation will by then be sourced from renewables and taking into account increasing electricity trading within Europe. If conventional overhead cabling is used, the report says, it will cost EUR9.7 billion to lay 3,600 kilometres of new routes, including connections for offshore wind stations.
There are two technical variations on this scenario. If the overhead cables are equipped with temperature-monitoring equipment, higher amounts of electricity can be transmitted when the weather is cold and the wind is blowing. This would slightly reduce the need for new cable routes to 3,500 kilometres. The additional cost of temperature-monitoring equipment would raise overall investment to EUR9.8 billion.
If high-temperature cable is used, transmission capacity is greater and new routes only need to be 1,700 kilometres. But 5,700 kilometres of existing cable routes would have to be equipped with the new cables at an overall cost of EUR17 billion.
Household cost
The least expensive option involves new standard overhead cable routes, which would raise the network-use charge within household electricity bills by just EUR0.002/kWh, from EUR0.058/kWh to EUR0.06/kWh. The most expensive option, involving high temperature cable, would raise the network charge by EUR0.005/kWh.
Transmission system operator Tennet is sceptical about the high-temperature cable scenario - even though the requirement for new routes would drop to 1,700 kilometres. "To implement this idea, the existing high-voltage network would have to be taken out of operation within the next five years. This is not compatible with maintaining a secure electricity supply," says a Tennet spokesman, adding that this would involve longer disruption.
Germany's wind energy association Bundesverband Windenergie (BWE) welcomes the report but believes it is flawed by not taking sufficient note of the European dimension. "Germany needs a network strategy co-ordinated with network development, cross-border transmission line availability and storage capacity in the European Union," says BWE president Hermann Albers.
A separate report published by the European Wind Energy Association in the same month explores the requirements for developing the pan-European grid. Powering Europe: wind energy and the electricity grid predicts the evolution of renewable energy in the European power system from 2010 up to 2050 and the main power corridors needed (Windpower Monthly, December 2010).
To accommodate the growing amount of renewable energy coming online between now and 2050, the report envisages a new offshore grid in the Northern, Irish and Baltic seas, as well as improved connections between Spain and France, and Germany and its neighbours.
The report says that the ten-year network development plans produced by regulatory body the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity should be the main tool for providing a pan-European planning vision for grid infrastructure in line with long-term EU policy targets for renewables.


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Crowdsourcing Gender Equity
By Anna Lena Phillips
Ada Lovelace Day, and its companion website, aims to raise the profile of women in science and technology
Ada Lovelace Day, and its companion website, aims to raise the profile of women in science and technology
It's not news that women in the sciences face significant obstacles. But if you're in need of empirical confirmation, a review of the literature turns up plenty of evidence. In a 1999 study in the journal Sex Roles, for instance, Rhea E. Steinpreis and colleagues found that a job candidate with a female name was less likely to be chosen than a candidate with a male name and an otherwise identical resume. A 2008 study in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, by Amber E. Budden et al., compared double-blind review (in which peer reviewers don't see the author's name) and single-blind review (in which they do). Under double-blind review there was a significant increase in publication of work by female authors, suggesting a bias against research by women. Such problems follow women throughout their careers in the halls of science—and sometimes push them out the door.
Knowing what's happening is one step. Researchers have also explored how we might change things. A study by Sylvie Kerger et al., published this year in the British Journal of Educational Psychology, found that girls' interest in studying science was greater when lessons employed stereotypically feminine topics—and stereotypically masculine topics, the authors note, are generally the norm. A pair of experiments by Penelope Lockwood, published in Psychology of Women Quarterly in 2006, suggests that for young women who are contemplating careers in science, it's important to have female role models, more so than for young men to have male ones.
When Suw Charman-Anderson, a London-based social technologist, read of this study, she saw both an expression of her own experience and an opportunity. "When I tried to think of my own role models, I had a hard time naming them," she says. And although she has a good network of fellow technologists now, it took a while to find them. "I sort of stumbled across my peers," she says.
So in 2009, she initiated Ada Lovelace Day, named after the 19th-century mathematician who is considered the founder of computing science, with a challenge on the U.K. website Pledgebank: "I will publish a blog post … about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if 1,000 other people will do the same." The response was overwhelming—nearly 2,000 people pledged to post. The 2010 results were similarly successful, and the day's focus grew to include women in all of science. At first, entries tended toward the venerable: Marie Curie got a lot of press. But as the event has grown, posts have appeared on more and more 20th-century and contemporary women in science.
Sue Black, a senior research associate in the Department of Computer Science at University College London, has been involved with the project since its first year. "It's great fun seeing the list of interesting women grow each year," she says.
For Ada Lovelace Day 2011, on October 7, Charman-Anderson, Black and their colleagues took another step toward making those role models easier to find. A new iteration of the Ada Lovelace Day website, www.findingada.com, allows people to create profiles of the scientists they admire and offers a compendium of links to all the blog entries posted thus far. The result will be a kind of crowdsourced database of women in science.
Combining this focus on women with an explicitly participatory model yields strengths that more general sources may not have. Wikipedia, for instance, was found in a 2010 survey to be edited primarily by males, despite its mission to be open to everyone. Charman-Anderson also notes that women are less likely to self-promote than men. "Lots of women wouldn't make a post about themselves, or profile themselves, but they'll do it for someone else," she says. (The data support her: Several studies show that women who are seen as ambitious are perceived negatively.) More-traditional databases devoted to gender in science may suffer from a lack of visibility, but the bloggers who participate in Ada Lovelace Day each contribute to its publicity.
"We want to connect women not just to groups in their own geographic area, but also connect them to other women via their passion, whether that's microbiology or Ruby on Rails," Charman-Anderson says. "Having like-minded people around you is essential, and we hope to be able to help women find such communities."
Given the still-considerable difficulties women face in the sciences, it's easy to forget how much change has come since Lovelace's time. But the vast amount of information available at Finding Ada makes it easier to imagine a more equitable future. "I wonder what Ada Lovelace would have made of it all," Black says.
Click "American Scientist" to access home page


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Anyway, how many people would buy a D700x (or whatever)? Not many is my guess. Apparently in Japan the best selling FX class camera is the Nikon D700 with 1% of the market. Yup, a whopping 1%. The real money is to be made on DX.
...Here's my considered opinion. The differences are mouse nuts. What are mouse nuts, you ask? Very, very very small, I reply....Michael
That would depend on the price.
I wonder what your 1% of the market is based on
I don't know how often this has to be repeated, but they are not ignoring the changing market. The Canon 1Ds3 has about the same RRP and targets the same market. Or are Canon arrogant too? Once demand slows (assuming it ever picked up), the price will drop as per the 1Ds3.
Many Canon users were angry at Canon when they saw the Nikon D3 appear.
Wait a while, and you'll get your 'D700x'. You are going to buy one aren't you? Or are you just whining about a camera you would never buy anyway?
(24.5 mp blurred by handholding is still better than 12 or 16 mp also blurred by handholding)
The RRP of the canon is not the issue as it was for when it first came out, which was a while ago.The current price of the 1DsII is - at present in the UK, the Nikon is about 25% more which is a very big difference!
This leaves the Nikon essentially with no market. Pros are using better equipment and home users can't afford it the software, printers, and other goodies to realize the quality of the D3x. Not when the camera itself blows their entire budget.
Here's my considered opinion. The differences are mouse nuts. What are mouse nuts, you ask? Very, very very small, I reply.
FINALLY! A topic I actually know something about! Mouse nuts are about the size of a pea in a weanling (3 weeks old) and about the size of a small jelly bean in an adult (8 weeks or older) male. So... compared to a pixel on a 50D sensor, or even the size of the buttons on the top of my aging 20D, mouse nuts are much much larger. hardly small at all, really. Also, the average mouse 'event' delivers about 1/10th the number of sperm as a human 'event', which is pretty impressive for an animal that weighs an ounce. OK, back to pixels and raw converters and 12 vs 14 bits...Ted[attachment=10764:mousenut.jpg]
No shit Sherlock! Let's suggest a sensible price. In which case the price would be no less than for a D700, almost certainly higher.
I believe it to be DSLRs. Consumer DX cameras sell in much bigger quantities than pro-grade cameras. And for most amateurs the D700 is expensive.
That would be $2400 ($2320 last time I looked at B&H) and dropping here in the United States. Why don't you post the actual numbers and what they are based on? What is the percentage of the leading DSLR? Is it 10%, or perhaps less.
That would be $2400 ($2320 last time I looked at B&H) and dropping here in the United States. Why don't you post the actual numbers and what they are based on? What is the percentage of the leading DSLR? Is it 10%, or perhaps less. P&S cameras sell in much greater quantities than DSLRs, but that doesn't mean companies should just stop producing DSLRs (which is what your "logic" would lead us to), just as they should not stop producing FX format, or stall producing a reasonably priced high MP DSLR. A company like Nikon which wants to be competitive in all areas should be particularly concerned with the gaping hole they leave for Sony and Canon to fill, so I would say the reasonable price for a "D700x" would be $3000.
Considering how much printing lags behind camera resolution these days, exactly WHY do you need a 25MP camera? This is the question I ask my friends when they are shopping for the latest toy. With a typical 8 X 12 print in a normal Epson or similar printer, anything over about 10MP is just wasted pixels.


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Meet and Eat: Will Levitt, Serious Eats Summer Intern
Note: It's time to meet one of our new summer interns, Will Levitt. He's already started mixing sangria, setting up chocolate ice cream tastings, and eating sandwiches with us. Say hello to Will! —The Mgmt.
Name: Will Levitt
Location: NYC
Occupation: Student at Wesleyan University
Website / Twitter: The Dorm Room Dinner / @dormroomdinner
1. Guilty pleasures? Mayonnaise. I've been known to add it to a lot of things. My real guilty pleasure is adding lots of it to any sandwich—and I eat a lot of sandwiches. A good sandwich often just isn't complete without a good serving of mayonnaise.
2. Describe your perfect meal. Some great bread, a runny French cheese and some fresh summer vegetables to snack on—tomatoes, radishes, greens. And a lemonade.
3. What food won't you eat? Chocolate. I don't like chocolate, I never have, and though many have tried, I probably never will.
4. What would you like to try but haven't yet? I would like to try roasting a pork shoulder.
5. Favorite food person? Ruth Reichl. When I first got interested in cooking, Gourmet magazine was basically my bible. Since she was editor at the time, I would always read her editor letters at the beginning of each issue and think that someday I wanted to write about food like she does.
6. When did you first realize you were a serious eater? When I asked for a crepe pan for my tenth birthday.
7. What do your family and friends think of your food obsessions? They're usually pretty enthusiastic about it (especially because they get to eat whatever I cook). Maybe sometimes they get a little annoyed when we're looking for somewhere to eat and I make us walk an extra ten blocks for a place I've heard about and really want to try, instead of stopping somewhere nearby. But overall I think they like it.
8. Favorite food sites or blogs (besides Serious Eats, of course)? Scanwiches, What Katie Ate, 101 Cookbooks, Grub Street, the New York Times, food52, Saveur, Francis Lam on Salon.com.
9. Everyone has a go-to person they call for restaurant recommendations. Who's yours? My friend Alex from Boston.
10. And what's the best recommendation he's ever given you? Oishii Sushi in Chestnut Hill, MA.
11. What's your favorite meal, and where do you get it? Dinner. I like to make it at home with friends or family.
12. Do you ever cook? What's the best dish you make? I cook all the time! I'd say homemade pasta with a really simple tomato sauce and good parmigiano cheese.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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The lockout keeps rolling on, but that doesn't mean we lacked for quality content this week. We had another entry in our "Worst to First" jerseys series, talked about the frightening salary cap situation for a bunch of teams, looked at how forward usage by NHL coaches has evolved over the last few seasons, talked about the World Juniors and buyouts, the lockout and the league's very best prospect, as well as half a dozen things I'm not even mentioning.
More after the jump!
Worst to first jerseys: the Winnipeg Jets. This popular series continues as designer John van der Woude breaks down the best and worst of the Jets' (and Thrashers') jerseys. [Jets Nation]
Lockout thoughts. Retired NHL defenceman Jason Strudwick explains the players' perspective in this lockout. [Oilers Nation]
The changing role of forwards between 2010 and 2012. Have NHL coaches as a whole changed the way they use their forward lines over the last few seasons? The results may surprise. [NHL Numbers]
Alex Edler, gone from this salary capped world? ATTENTION: NHL NEGOTIATORS. If you're really mean about the salary cap, the Vancouver Canucks may lose Alex Edler, allowing any other team to sign him. [Canucks Army]
Speaking of teams with a cap problem… How does Calgary survive with a rising cap? [Flames Nation]
And speaking more of teams with a cap problem… Toronto! [Leafs Nation]
The top earners in the NHL and the trickledown effect. The NHLPA contends that by imposing term/variance limits on contracts, superstars will collect more money on short-term deals, heavily damaging the "middle class" in the NHL. Are they right or wrong? [NHL Numbers]
NHL buyouts to save season? Amnesty buyouts have emerged as a point of contention between the NHL and NHLPA; will we see them and if we do how will they work? [Oilers Nation]
Ten reasons to look forward to the World Juniors. And "actual hockey being played" is only one of them. [Canucks Army]
Is Justin Schultz the best prospect in the NHL? Looking at former NHL general manager Craig Button's list of the 30 best NHL prospects. [Oilers Nation]
Total Player Charts. This is a great concept, and worth reading just for David Koci's chart alone. [NHL Numbers]
WHOAtherspoon! One of Team Canada's most difficult decisions this year was in net; were they right to cut Oil Kings goalie/Flames prospect Laurent Brossoit?
In the same vein… Morgan Rielly makes the cut for Team Canada. [Leafs Nation]
Phil Housley. A great interview with a superb defenceman. [OilersNation]
Jake Gardiner leaves game with a head injury. And he is no longer "not in a concussion state." A disappointing blow for a great young player, and proof that the Maple Leafs organization is terrified of using the word "concussion" as a standalone descriptor. [Leafs Nation/Leafs Nation]
Positive Vibes Looking at the positives of a disclaimer vote, as well as at Nugent-Hopkins and the World Juniors. [Oilers Nation]
Two Graphic Comments in the same week! In addition to the nation-wide post that ran earlier this week, Graphic Comments took a long look at how goaltenders age for NHL Numbers.
Jump to NHL Numbers for the full post.


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The market for consumer compact cameras has has been all but eradicated by the rise of the smartphone and its ever improving built-in cameras. Google Glass and other wearable devices could, once produced and sold in larger quantities, be the next innovation to have a significant impact on the consumer imaging market. Unsurprisingly neither electronics nor camera manufacturers would want to miss out on the huge potential of this new category of devices. There have been rumors of a Samsung Galaxy Glass device coming for a while and we've seen similar concepts from lesser known manufacturers, too.
Now it seems Olympus is one of the first traditional camera manufacturers to jump on the band wagon. The guys from 4/3 Rumors have found a newly published Oly patent (JP2013/075623) that describes a device that looks very similar to the original Google Glass and comes with either one or two transparent screens in front of the wearer's eye.
The fact that the Japanese manufacturer might be planning such a device is interesting because of the fact that earlier Olympus patents describe how the live view image from a camera could be projected to the screen of a head-mounted wearable device, which opens up interesting possibilities related to remote capture.
Source: FPO | Via: 4/3 Rumors
Source Article from http://connect.dpreview.com/post/5354544851/olympus-patent-describes-google-glass-like-device


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Advanced Search
Digital Media | News
Microsoft today released a preview version of Office Mix, a new PowerPoint addon that lets teachers create rich media presentations and interactive lessons and share them online.
Office Mix includes two components: a plugin for PowerPoint and a site where teachers can share their work and view analytics.
The plugin gives educators the ability to record lecture materials directly within PowerPoint and embed multimedia and interactive elements, including:
On the back end, Office Mix provides a simple means of sharing interactive presentations on a hosted environment. That environment also provides analytics to teachers, allowing them to view data on who watched a presentation and how they performed on quizzes. Other features include:
Mix presentations are supported on common desktop browsers, as well as Windows-based tablets. At present, support for iOS and Android is limited. Users can watch Mix presentations as videos. According to Microsoft, "The full interactive experience will also be available on Apple and Google Android tablets soon."
Office Mix is available as part of Office 365 ProPlus. The ProPlus edition includes the full core suite of Office desktop applications — Word, Excel, and PowerPoint — in addition to the cloud productivity and collaboration tools (e-mail, document sharing, Web conferencing, Web site creation, cloud storage, calendaring, instant messaging, and the Web app versions of Word, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Excel). Through Microsoft's Student Advantage program, institutions that license Office 365 can provide the ProPlus suite to students at no additional charge.
Office Mix is available in preview form for customers now. It requires Microsoft Office 2013 SP1. Complete details and a link to download the addon can be found at mix.office.com.
About the Author
David Nagel is editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Technology Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal and STEAM Universe. A 25-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.
He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at or follow him on Twitter at @THEJournalDave (K-12) or @CampusTechDave (higher education).
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In this post I will illustrate the algorithm used by Oracle (in 220.127.116.11) to fast refresh a materialized view (MV) containing only the MAX aggregate function:
create materialized view test_mv build immediate refresh fast on demand with rowid as select gby as mv_gby, count(*) as mv_cnt_star, max (dat) as mv_max_dat from test_master --where whe = 0 group by gby ;
The where clause is commented to enable fast refresh whatever type of DML occurs on the master table, in order to investigate all possible scenarios; the case having the where-clause is anywhere a sub-case of the former and we will illustrate it as well below.
As usual, the MV log is configured to "log everything":
create materialized view log on test_master with rowid ( whe, gby, dat ), sequence including new values;
In the general introduction to aggregate-only MVs we have seen how the refresh engine first marks the log rows, then inspects TMPDLT (loading its rows into the result cache at the same time) to classify its content as insert-only (if it contains only new values), delete-only (if it contains only old values) or general (if it contains a mix of new/old values). In the MAX scenario, a specialized (and much more performant) algorithm exists only for the insert-only case, and every other case falls back to the general algorithm.
Let's illustrate, with the help of the usual supporting test case, and building on the shoulders of the already illustrated SUM case.
refresh for insert-only TMPDLT
The refresh is made using this single merge statement:
/* MV_REFRESH (MRG) */ /* MV_REFRESH (MRG) */ merge into test_mv using ( with tmpdlt$_test_master as ( -- check introduction post for statement ) select gby, sum( 1 ) as cnt_star, max( dat ) as max_dat from (select rid$, gby, dat, dml$$ from tmpdlt$_test_master ) as of snapshot(:b_scn) -- where whe = 0 (if the where clause is specified in the MV) group by gby ) deltas on (sys_op_map_nonnull(test_mv.mv_gby) = sys_op_map_nonnull(deltas.gby)) when matched then update set test_mv.mv_cnt_star = test_mv.mv_cnt_star + deltas.cnt_star test_mv.mv_max_dat = decode( test_mv.mv_max_dat, null, deltas.max_dat, decode( deltas.max_dat, null, test_mv.mv_max_dat, greatest( test_mv.mv_max_dat, deltas.max_dat ) ) ) when not matched then insert ( test_mv.mv_gby, test_mv.mv_max_dat, test_mv.mv_cnt_star ) values ( deltas.gby, deltas.max_dat, deltas.cnt_star )
Similarly to what it is done for the SUM case, it simply calculates the delta values to be propagated by grouping-and-maximazing the new values contained in TMPDLT (essentially, it executes the MV statement on the filtered mv log), and then looks for matches over the grouped-by expression (using the null-aware function sys_op_map_nonnull, already illustrated in the post about SUM). It then applies the deltas to the MV, or simply inserts them if no match is found.
The delta application algorithm is very simple: since only inserts have been performed, the MV max(dat) value cannot decrease, but only increase if max(dat) calculated by the deltas is greater. Hence it is simply a matter to set the new value to the greatest of the old and the max of the deltas, with a few decodes to handle nulls in the obvious way.
Note that count(dat) is not used, and even not present in the MV definition.
Note especially, as in the SUM case, that the master table, test_master, is not accessed at all - unfortunately that cannot be done for the general case, as we will see shortly.
This algorithm is used also when the where clause is specified in the MV (adding this clause makes the MV an "insert-only MV", as per Oracle definition, which means that can be fast refreshed only after inserts and not after other DML types); the only difference is the obvious addition of the where clause in the deltas calculation as well (as commented in the statement above).
It's also very interesting to remember that this algorithm can be used when only inserts(new values) are present in TMPDLT, not in the log, and hence it can be used even when deletes or inserts are present in the log, provided they are redundant (as seen in the general introduction post). This is especially useful for where-clause MVs, since it widens the possibility to refresh beyond insert-only, as already demonstrated in script tmpdlt_enables_fast_refresh_of_insert_only_mv.sql of the introduction post.
refresh for mixed-DML TMPDLT
The refresh is accomplished using two statements, a delete that removes every gby value referenced in the log:
/* MV_REFRESH (DEL) */ delete from test_mv where sys_op_map_nonnull(mv_gby) in ( select sys_op_map_nonnull(gby) from (select gby from mlog$_test_master where snaptime$$ > :b_st0 ) as of snapshot(:b_scn) )
and an insert that recalculates them reading from the master table:
/* MV_REFRESH (INS) */ insert into test_mv select gby, count(*), max(dat) from (select gby, dat from test_master where ( sys_op_map_nonnull(gby) ) in ( select sys_op_map_nonnull(gby) from (select gby, dat from mlog$_test_master where snaptime$$ > :b_st0 ) as of snapshot(:b_scn) ) ) group by gby
This is necessary since a delete(old value) might remove the max value present in the MV, and to know the new max value we must necessarily visit the master table. This might not happen for all log values, but the refresh engine takes the easiest (and drastic) option of deleting and recreating all anyway.
Note that this might result in massive degradation of performance - this algorithm in not O(modifications) but O(modifications * V), where V is the average number of rows per distinct value of gby, which is generally O(mv size). For example: if your order table doubles in size, you must expect to double the refresh time, even if the number of orders modified is always the same.
As in the SUM case, a bit surprisingly, this statement does not use TMPDLT, but reads straight from the log; the same observations made for the SUM case apply here as well.
The insert-only case is very similar to the SUM case, and thus please refer to the high-level discussion presented there if interested (but, obviously, the creation of the index on mv_cnt_star is not needed in the MAX case). As a side note, one might notice that insert-only algorithms for aggregation are a class of their own, vastly simpler and vastly more performant (and that does not come as a surprise).
The mixed-DML case is another story altogether - to optimize it you must (almost always) create a proper index on the master table. At least the expression sys_op_map_nonnull(gby) must be indexed, but I would strongly advise to create this covering index:
create index test_master_covering on test_master ( sys_op_map_nonnull(gby), gby, dat )
this way everything needed for recalculating a given gby value is neatly clustered in some leaf blocks, instead of being spread out across all the table. You might spare thousands of table block visits if, as it is quite often the case, you have thousands of rows for each gby values and a bad clustering_factor.
Note also that this index is probably highly compressible, thus adding compress 2 (or even 3, depending on the "dat" column statistic distribution) is a great thing to do as well.
Script gby_max_with_covering_index.sql shows the possible index-only resulting plan:
-------------------------------------------------- |Id|Operation |Name | -------------------------------------------------- | 0|INSERT STATEMENT | | | 1| LOAD TABLE CONVENTIONAL| | | 2| HASH GROUP BY | | | 3| NESTED LOOPS | | | 4| SORT UNIQUE | | | 5| TABLE ACCESS FULL |MLOG$_TEST_MASTER | | 6| INDEX RANGE SCAN |TEST_MASTER_COVERING| --------------------------------------------------
For optimizing the log, and disabling TMPDLT, the same considerations made for the SUM case hold.
Full name
Alberto Dell'Era
My company
My blog


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Urban Bottle - Passion Pink 500ml
Urban Bottle
The perfect size BPA-free lightweight stainless steel bottle.
Urban Bottle is the ultimate solution for your healthy and comfortable hydration on the go.
And now for something sweet and cheery: meet the Little Buds!
The new tactile finish of the Silk Collection is a pleasure to touch as much as a treat for your eyes.
Urban Bottle is the extra lightweight stainless steel water bottle for your fast sips and refills on the go!
Haptic finish
18/8 food grade stainless steel
Handmade graphic pattern
100% BPA free, phthalates free, toxins free
Does not retain or impart any flavour
One twist to open, leak proof lid
Wide mouth for ice filling and easy cleaning
Single wall (see Thermal Cover)
Plane boarding allowance
Hand wash recommended
Capacity: 500ml
Weight: 103 g (117 g with lid)
Mouth: Ø 3.3 cm
Base: Ø 6.5 cm
Height: 21 cm
You can do your part too and join the movement for a more sustainable future!
Every time you refill your Urban and Clima Bottle instead of buying a disposable
plastic water bottle, you save 80 grams of CO2 from being released into the
You and us together have been able to offset a stunning 40 tons of CO2 just in the
last year.
The number printed on our 500ml bottles is the quantity of CO2 you save from
releasing into the atmosphere every time you refill your 500ml Urban or Clima
Bottle instead of buying a disposable plastic one. 80 grams (0,08Kg) is indeed the
quantity of CO2 released into the atmosphere to produce a single-use
plastic bottle.


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Welcome to Galaxy Signage
Galaxy Signage is one of the India's largest Modular Signage and Retail Display manufacturing & designing company situated in Gurgaon. It is an association of like minded professionals having more than 10 years of experience in the Signage industry and executed hundred of prestigious projects in India, Delhi, Ncr, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida, Chandigarh, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Faridabad, IMT Manesar, Rewari, Gaziabad, Meerut, Muzaffar Nagar, Panipat, Sonipat, Saharanpur, And all over states of India. Galaxy Signage is the name preferred by most of the leading Architects, Urban designers, Landscape Architects, Interior designers, Galaxy Signage is committed to its leadership role as the most innovative and original producer of new sign boards and Retail Display manufacturer in Delhi Ncr, Noida, Greater Noida, Gurgaon Area. Our commitment to customer satisfaction, through the superior quality of our product range and services, remain the foundation of our success. This is accomplished through the development of our close partnerships with our clients, suppliers and our professional staff with the guidance of Architects and Interior Designers and PMC companies. We are endlessly striving for new and more creative ways to meet our customers growing needs for quality and brand identity.


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Additional Page – "the milestones"
I'm adding another new page called "the milestones" available here or on the navbar. Like the new page mentioned in the previous post, I need a place to store key dates / developments in military history. The primary focus will initially be on American military history.
I'm currently reading about American military history in the period from 1815-1860 and it's amazing to see the chronology of developments leading up to the American Civil War. These fall into a number of categories: political, technological, military, etc.
I have made just a start this evening but will continue to update.


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Reviewed by Brian Mullin https://www.gramslightbikes.com/
Syncros started out as a small, high end component company based out of Vancouver's North Shore, and was purchased by Ritchey Design in 2003, but it's still managed as a separate brand, catering more towards the gravity crowd. The Syncros Freakin' Light (FL) series, is their cross country oriented product suite, and covers their stems, handlebars, seatposts, saddle, rims, wheelsets and headsets. Of course, you can also replace call F###in' Light if you wish, but I will remain PC in cyber space. I tested their FL stem, bar, saddle and seatpost, and I'm happy to report they all worked and functioned quite well.
FL Saddle
The Syncros FL saddle is my new favorite saddle, mostly because it's a climber's dream, allowing you to punch out steep terrain, giving you maximum leverage, with comfort, stability and maneuverability. The cross country oriented saddle, is slim, has a composite shell, titanium alloy rails, superlight foam, a leather cover and aramid rear and nose panels. It has a groove that runs down the top center for pressure relief, and is available in white (tested) or black.
The saddle is firm, and offers plenty of support for those hammering sessions, but it has enough padding to be comfortable for long rides, greatly aided by the shell flex and the titanium allow rails (CrN/Ti). Where the FL really shines, is in steep and ugly climbs, in which the nose section is predominantly used. The nose of the saddle has just the proper padding and shape, to be an excellent place to sit your butt to crank your way uphill or through technical terrain, whether it's mild or wild. It's like having a pry bar or lever arm, to push power down into the bike's drivetrain, while still maintaining a neutral balance. You can maneuver up and down the snout of the nose, depending upon the requirements, pressing your legs together to hold the nose or sitting up on the tip for maximum advantage. It's not the lightest saddle on the market at 266 grams, but its climbing prowess sure helps with that deficit. The aramid rear and nose panels, have really helped the durability of the saddle, and my multiple crashes have shown no signs of distress, and outside of a few subdued wrinkles in the leather it still looks good.
I give high marks to the Syncros SL saddle and highly recommend it, it's comfortable, durable, with the best nose section I have used, and is my current undisputed climbing King!
Measured Specs
Weight – 265.8 grams
Size – 137mm wide x 280mm long
Nose width – 47mm
Overall Rating: 4.5 Flamin' Chili Peppers
Syncros SL Saddle Company Specs
Intended use: XC / Marathon
New to the syncros saddle lineup, the FL saddle is built on a slim but comfortable composite shell, Ti rails, and superlight foam
Lighter, sleeker version of the AM saddle.
Leather cover with aramid rear panels to withstand abuse from crashes
Contoured foam in center section to relief sit bone pressure zones
CrN/Ti alloy rails
Available in white or black
Weight: 236g